UFO Exchange--Part 4: My former UFOs---or "where are they now?!?"

Pile o' Discarded UFOs

Back in January, I set out to inventory my UFO projects and determine which fell into the Love It, or Over It categories.  I've already blogged about several quilts that fell into the Love it pile and have since been quilted and carried to completion (or are in progress).  

The UFO Exchange was created as a way to let go of some of my Over It projects and give them a new life with some of my talented fellow guild members.  As I've been working on the 2 UFOs I brought home in February, I've been secretly wondering what would become of the blocks or quilt tops I bid adieu to at the February UFO Exchange.  So for me, it was a real treat to see two of my former UFOs carried to completion with great care and love, many thanks to two very talented fellow quilters--Irene B and Marie S. 

My Baby Thaddeus Twister Quilt from February 2012

Quilt #1:  Baby Boy Twister

Lil Twister Quilt by Irene B

Back in February 2012, one of my college friends announced she was expecting her 3rd or 4th child, yet another baby boy (nearly all my friends have had baby boys, so I am running out of baby boy quilt ideas).  So I purchased three cute charm packs from an online quilt shop that featured a variety of cute baby prints:  safety pins, ducks, rattles, bottles, etc.  Sorting out the more feminine charms, I was left with a mostly yellow, blue and green color palette that I supplemented with additional prints from my stash.  Since I had so many charms, I set out to make a companion quilt to have ready for the next of my friends/family to be expecting with child.  The second set of blocks were laid out and even sewn into rows and that is where the project fizzled out.  I never got around to sewing the rows together to cut out the twister shapes that are then reassembled into a Twister quilt.  So the assembled rows and all the spare charm squares were packed up and entered into the UFO Exchange where they piqued the interest of Irene B.  Once I learned that she had picked up my former project, I sent her an email explaining my original intent use the Twister tool to create a twister quilt.  Ultimately, it was her project to complete and keep as desired, but I was super excited to see that she went out to purchase the Lil Twister template and created a Lil' Twister quilt of her very own!  Irene did a fabulous job with all the twisters and even used the remaining square scraps (left behind after cutting out the twister square intersections) for her border--what a fantastic idea!  And what happened to all those extra charm squares from the original charm packs?!?  The ever resourceful Irene put them to use in piecing her quilt backing!

Irene's Lil Twister Quilt Back Using all the extra 5" charms!

Even though the quilts did not have to be quilted/bound--Irene went above and beyond and finished her quilt with a fun swirling spiral motif and even bound her completed quilt!  

Thanks Irene for finishing what I could not!  I am sure it will bring a lot of joy and warmth to a Lil one.  And as an extra bonus, Irene is yet another Twister convert--and shared that she will definitely use it again!

Interestingly enough, all the 1" hand dyed fabric strips that I first selected, were dropped off by Irene...so we basically exchanged with one another!  How fun!

Quilt #2:  Bow Tie Quilt

Bow Tie Blocks in Yellow, Green and Teal

This quilt was started back in 2010 when a friend from grad school announced his engagement.  The wedding colors were yellow and he was a huge John Deere tractor fan...so I pulled in some green prints (including a John Deere print) and some fun teal prints.  I whipped up lots of bow tie blocks then it was time to move to California--so they were packed up for the big cross country road trip.  Once settled in northern California, the blocks were pulled out and various motifs/designs were arranged on the floor before I found one that piqued my fancy.

I really liked the concentric rings the bow tie blocks formed, but had envisioned it on point and just couldn't figure out how the math or design work to piece the four corner units.  I had a bunch of leftover half square triangles sewn from the corner units that might be fun to incorporate but sought out the professional help.  Yup, this quilt was my first introduction to The Granary quilt shop as I attended one of the open sew sessions hoping for inspiration and/or guidance on how best to proceed.  The Granary staff members were wonderful and provided me with some great ideas to move forward, but ultimately the large size of this quilt just got the best of me.  So it too was packed up along with a stack of spare bow tie blocks, charm squares, half square triangles and yardage originally purchase for a border and/or corner units.

I was flattered when Marie S, one of our more expert quilters selected it in the exchange and let me know that she was looking forward to working with my color/fabric palettes, which she often enjoys seeing during the show and tells.  Besides being a master quilter, Marie S is the queen of scrap quilts.  In fact, Marie S was our October 2012 meeting speaker as she presented her "Scraps, Scraps, Scraps" trunk show featuring a fun line up of scraptastic 9-patch quilts.  It was just amazing to see the beautiful works of quilted art she created using scraps in various 9-patch block layouts!  I was very curious to see what she would do with all my banished bow tie scraps.  Well--Marie certainly rose to the challenge both in quality and quantity as she produced not just one but three quilt tops for Monday's big reveal!!

Marie S's Bow Tie Bonanza!  Three Quilt Tops Created from my humble Bow Tie Quilt!!

Marie's First Quilt Top

Marie's first top used the stack of charm squares included to create diagonal lines alternating in yellow, green and teal.  

Marie's Second Quilt Top

Her second quilt used half of the bow tie quilt top, to which she created corner pieces and a large border from the extra yardage included.  I especially love the fact that she kept the one John Deere block (in the top right corner)!

Marie's Wonky Bow Tie Quilt Top

Marie then used the remaining bow tie blocks and created wonky bow tie blocks using the extra yardage to frame each bow tie block.  This one is definitely my favorite of the three tops as I love all the movement created by the off-kilter blocks creating a zig zags in each direction!  Very fun!  

And there is still one more deposited UFO floating around with a fellow UFO Exchange participant:  my slice and swap blocks in red, yellow, green and blue.  Another project started while living in NY for a young child who was crazy for dinosaurs (but has since long outgrown this boyhood phase).  So who knows--maybe I will see this top pieced and completed at a future meeting show and tell?!?

Kudos to Irene B and Marie S for their bravery to participate in the UFO Exchange project, but for also taking home one of my older UFOs and giving them a terrific finish!  And many thanks to each of them for giving their permission for me to include pictures of their completed projects in today's post!  Enjoy!